Andrade Safe Blog
Technical knowledge for safer decisions.
Applied content on prevention, occupational health, engineering and leadership.
Two workers survived nine days in a Nepal tunnel: what the rescue teaches about emergency engineering
When normal evacuation becomes impossible, alternative access, technical information, personnel location, communication and rescuer safety determine what can still be done.
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Ritom hydropower plant explosion: two deaths and the engineering questions around commissioning and electrical energy
What has been confirmed in Switzerland, what remains hypothesis, and why energization and brownfield interfaces demand exceptional control.
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A shut-down plant is not automatically safe: the Catalyst Refiners H2S fatalities
Two fatalities during chemical disposal show why ending production does not end process hazards.
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Brazil rescues 479 workers from conditions analogous to slavery: why OSH and decent work cannot be separated
A nationwide enforcement operation found slave-like working conditions in agriculture, construction and domestic work. The cases show why OSH paperwork cannot replace dignity, freedom and real working conditions.
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Critical minerals in Brazil: why reserves alone are not enough to lead the new economy
Brazilian lawmakers approved a national critical-minerals policy, but the bill still awaits presidential assent. The deeper challenge is to connect geology with processing, technology, safe operations and manufacturing.
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OpenAI says it solved Navier-Stokes: what would that mean for engineering?
An AI system produced a public, Lean-formalised proof for a Millennium Prize Problem. Clay still marks it Unsolved — and that distinction is where the real story begins.
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Mariana dam disaster: when technical risk information reaches the decision table
The TRF6 ruling brings back a defining question for high-hazard operations: how can technical signals become alerts, authority, decisions and verified action before consequences become irreversible?
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Codelco suspends Andes Norte over emerging seismic risk: when stopping becomes an engineering decision
Six months of data indicated seismic behaviour that no longer fitted historical assumptions with the same confidence. The case shows why monitoring protects only when evidence can change a decision.
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Engineered stone and silicosis: why an old occupational disease is affecting young countertop workers
A 2026 study identified hundreds of silicosis cases among engineered-stone countertop workers. The real lesson is how to stop respirable crystalline silica before it reaches the breathing zone.
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Brazil’s ANM proposes new safety rules for mining piles: what could change
Brazil is debating a dedicated, risk-informed framework for mining piles. Learn what already applies, what remains a draft and why water, consequence, monitoring and emergency planning matter.
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CEAGESP fire: why extinguishing the flames does not mean the structure is safe
The fire was controlled, but safe re-entry requires more than the absence of flames. Learn what heat can change in steel, concrete, connections and workplace conditions.
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Yellow September 2026 in Brazil: What Workplaces Can Do to Prevent Suicide Beyond Awareness Campaigns
Brazil's 2026 campaign says that listening means being present. Lasting prevention also requires access to care and healthier work organization.
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Brazil Regulates Underground CO₂ Storage: How CCS Works and Its Engineering Risks
Brazilian Decree 13,095/2026 sets out the country’s carbon capture, transport and geological-storage chain. Here is what changed and why integrity, wells, pipelines and emergency planning matter.
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Green Hydrogen in Brazil: New Market, New Engineering and Safety Risks
Brazil’s new hydrogen framework is accelerating low-emissions projects. Yet electrolysis does not remove flammability, pressure, material compatibility, electrical or emergency-response risks.
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Brazil’s AI Data Center Boom: Engineering and Safety Risks Behind the Cloud
The race for artificial intelligence has also become a race for megawatts. Behind the cloud are substations, UPS systems, batteries, generators, cooling, water and people maintaining critical infrastructure around the clock.
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El Niño 2026–27 in Brazil: Heat, Flooding, Wildfires and Workplace Risks
El Niño is strengthening, but a forecast is not destiny. Companies operating in Brazil can use the lead time to review heat, smoke, rainfall and continuity controls.
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BESS in Brazil: Grid-Scale Batteries, Fire Risk and Safety in the Energy Storage Expansion
Brazil is preparing its first large battery-storage auctions. Learn how a BESS works, why thermal runaway and stored energy require engineered safeguards, and what must be managed throughout the asset life cycle.
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Backhoe Blind Spots: Why Distance Rules Alone Do Not Control the Risk
A worker was killed inside a trench in Brazil. The case shows why visibility, exclusion zones and positive communication must be controlled by the system of work.
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11 Workers Died After a Tank Deemed ‘Not Fit for Continued Service’ Remained in Operation
The hazard had been measured, documented and classified as critical. The Nippon Dynawave case shows why inspection without a decision does not protect workers.
Read articleNepal Glacier Collapse: 7 Emergency Preparedness Lessons
The August 2026 glacier collapse shows why early warning, evacuation, redundancy and responder safety must be designed before a disaster.
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